The New Tenants
Tyrants Issue 3- "The New Tenants." Front cover- Wrench stands before the reader in his black nanite-clothing, arms folded, as out of the sleeves pop long metallic strands that snake down to the ground, some weaving around him and up into the air. The strands end in various kinds of blade, hooked blades, serrated edges, flat, thick width blades, and so on. Narration- "Titan City. Now." The issue opens with several panning shots to show what Titan City looks like in the present day of the story (which is 2007.) The massive damage wrought by the Tyrants seem to be gone, that much is obvious, the roads are back as they were, buildings back upright, the rubble gone, and so on. But, though the city looks pristeen, it is not as it was before the disasters wrought by the Tyrants and Myth's 'Death Trap City' plan. Many giant swashtika banners hang from building sides, and they sit upon many flags on the tallest buildings. Flocks of pterodactyls fly over the city skyscrapers, and higher up, the odd humoungous, black-metalled, swashtika clad, robot flies. There are also squadrons dressed in black military outfits, with swashtiaks on the helms, flying under their own power; the means of flight varies, most just fly under invisible means, but a few leaves different kinds of energy streak behind (green glows, light beams, fire bursts, electrical trails and so on) some fly on different kinds of energy platform, and many different kinds of wings, both biological, metal and energy can be seen. As the comic zooms in to street level, many other foot patrols of this militia can be seen, of men and women with various shapes and sizes, often accompanied by Reichdroids of varying sides, and occasionally by militia crawling up the walls. There are civilians walking the pavements and pedestrian areas and traffic flowing down the streets like any ordinary city. The comic cuts to show Blitzkrieg Island's transparent image hovering over the city. The comic cuts to a wide rectangular window. The view shows the purple sky, then looks down on the city. Then the comic shows Wrench, his elbows slouched on the windowsill. "Well Wrench, no super heroes. The police control everything. Perfect order. You got what you wanted" he thinks to himself. "Except for the super-powers. Everywhere. And the Nazi state thing. But..." he looks at his watch "There is still time for everything to be perfect." Narration- "Four Years Ago. After the fall of the Tyrants." Kaan'Qsst runs across the sea, skidding to a halt as he leaps up onto the docks. He looks up in the sky, and his eyes briefly turn black. The reader sees in the next panel, from behind Kaan'Qsst's head, his view, as he looks up, and in a full page spread, there is a massive black, transparent silhouette of Blitzkrieg Island. "There you are", he says. In several panels he runs up to the top of the tallest building, but the distance is still too great. "What are you planning, Blitzkrieg?" He puts two fingers to his chin. He looks at his own form, taken from Blitzkrieg. "You would only kill me taking some of your power anyway." He then looks down at the city streets. "As for you Wrench... where are you hiding? It seems I will need to play the waiting game." Narration- "Four Years Ago, Two days later. The Nanite Bombing of Titan City." The comic shows Kaan'Qsst, dressed in a huge brown leather jacket, with a red hooded jumper underneath that, the hood up and over his head, hiding in the shadows of an alley, as he sees people running and screaming down the road. At the end of the road, in the wide shot of the single page spread, a massive black cloud comes spreading down the street, swarming around and over the people in the furthest background. The comic zooms in on his face. "Nanite bombs. So, you remained with Blitzkrieg." There are large BOOM sound effects and Kaan'Qsst looks in multiple directions to see different clouds in the distance. He steps back as three people run into the alley "Help!" they scream. "You are beyond help" Kaan'Qsst utters as he walks into the street. People try and run past him, but collapse, as the nanite swarm latches onto their skin. They fall to the ground, screaming and writhing, as then the nanites permeate through their skin. They look like ordinary humans, and stop struggling. In several panels, the reader is shown the people all methodically rising, and then waiting, like statues. The swarms however simply fly around Kaan'Qsst. He looks at his hands. "Though I may have made an enemy of you Blitzkrieg, it seems my choice was wise. I am no man or machine's puppet!" He clenches his fist around some nanites as they fly past. He walks over to the people who have been nanite-infected. He waves a hand in front of them. No reaction. "Curious" he says. And then the nearest person leaps upon him. And all the people turn to Kaan'Qsst. He flings the single person off, as they smash through a nearby window. "Do you see me, Blitzkrieg?" he yells. Possibly in answer, the mass of civilians leap upon him, or try, as he super-speeds around them, leaving them crashing into the floor and each other, flinging others with casual arm swipes. He then bends down to one of the many unconscious civilians, the panel showing a close-up of his currently metal hand clutching their neck. The comic then shows Kaan'Qsst's eyes turning black again, as the reader sees what he sees; black pulsing lines of power connect between the people like a mass of strings, all descending up from the sky, to the flying transparent black pulsing Blitzkrieg Island. "Well, I shall see you" he says "Perhaps through you." As Kaan'Qsst's skin, in contact with the human, turns back to its natural green. And then human hands wrap around his legs. The comic shows Kaan'Qsst's view again, as he sees small black smotes, spread across the bodies of the civilians, energy snapping between them. "I know what makes you function now" he says and holds out a hand. Another civilian lunges at him... then stops, frozen, in the next panel. Kaan'Qsst keeps his palm held out and grins. 'Heh.' As then a group of civilians dog-pile, him pushing the huge alien to the ground. He roars, punching both his arms out, sending several civilians, crashing into cars, walls and windows. Another smashes him around the face with a walking stick, dropped by a downed old man, but the stick snaps, and Kaan'Qsst seems merely annoyed. A man and a woman cling to his back, trying to throttle him around the neck, as Kaan'Qsst grabs the stick in a huge hand and snaps it, then drops to his knees and growls "Un... hand... me." The two drop off of the alien's back immediately. He spins, growls, and they back off. The comic cuts to show the street from above, as swarms of more nanite controlled civilians run at Kaan'Qsst. The comic zooms in to show his eyes narrowing. Then, he raises up his palms. Then he grins. "STOP!" he yells. The civilians stop running, arms slack. "Heh. BLITZKRIEG..." he looks up to the sky as he yells "I have control of your new little leash... what?" Kaan'Qsst looks up at the sky, as a huge purple circle appears in it, and in the next few panels it spreads across the sky. "Blitzkrieg... what you have done -now-?" The comic cuts to Wrench, stood at a window, looking up,pulling down his glasses slightly, as the purple light reflects in them. "Vrench, ve have a problem" comes a speech bubble from off-panel. "Yeah... the purple sky... not one of your secret plans then?" "Vat?" Blitzkrieg speeds to the window. "Damn you Kaan'Qsst, distracted me..." "Kaan'Qsst did this? Doesn't seem his style... whatever it is." "No. Zis is not his doing. But he vas the problem I was referring to." Wrench looks around at the sky, which is entirely purple as far as the eye can see. "Then... who is doing the sky thing?" Blitzkrieg closes his eyes, holding three long elongated fingers to his forehead. The comic then shows a flash of images. It shows Titan Bluffs exploding, as a beam fires down from Blitzkrieg Island, Blitzkrieg's floating fortress, as something flies up from it just before the explosion and into the sky. "Ze witch. Team Titan did this.. Evacuated and...?" "Shoved our little ship in a bottle. A purple skied bottle." "Yes. Vatever that means. And he..." Blitzkrieg turns into the metal walled room, where Samuel Thomas Gunn lies on the floor, alive, but unconscious, his armour in metal plates lying on the floor around him. "Provided the distraction for zere little escape. And ven Kaan'Qsst added to it." Wrench leans against the wall. "What did Kaan'Qsst do?" "It is more what he is doing." The comic cuts to show Kaan'Qsst marching through the streets, with two hundred civilians behind him. "He has absorbed ze nanites into him, and rather than control him, he is controlling zem, and manipulating ze broadcast signals, as I can." Wrench bends down to Gunn, shooting nano-threads out his sleeves and weaving them in a web around his body to contain him. There is a huge hole in the wall behind him where he burst through, mostly destroying the last vestiages of a giant red swashtika symbol, and rubble lies across the floor. "So, the Titans have escaped, let their leader do the heroic sacrifice to do it, stuck us somewhere else, I am assuming in another dimension, if they haven;t shrunk us down to atomic size, and now Kaan'Qsst's capable of leading a civil war against you?" Wrench's nano-threads detach, leaving Gunn firmly wrapped up. "An accurate summing." Blitzkrieg puts fingers to his chin and taps them lightly. "You're thinking." "Alvays." Blitzkrieg picks up. "Vatever the Titans have done, Gunn vill know. I vill find out vat he knows. But, containment for now. I must find a way to increase my control over ze virus, in case, Kaan'Qsst cannot be defeated." "And how do we defeat him? All your nano-flunkies can just be controlled by him." Blitzkrieg eyes burn brighter. "But you, cannot. Can you, Vrench?" Blitzkrieg taps Wrench on the chest, once, powerfully enough that Blitzkrieg staggers. "For your nanites are not mine, are zey." Wrench looks down. "Uh... no, sir." "Don't look so nervous. It was obvious I would know you weren't under my control, wasn't it? Fortunately, you still present a use to me. Bring me KaanQsst's head, vile I deal vith are other immediate problem." Wrench wipes sweat from his brow. "Yes. Sir." The comic cuts to show Wrench in the foreground of a single page spread, the back of his coat turned into metallic wings of a bat-like shape. In the background behind him, flies Blitzkrieg Island. The comic then shows several streets worth of people converging on an intersection, gathering towards Kaan'Qsst, who stands on top of an upturned oil tanker, looking up. Wrench lands on a roof ledge above him. "Kaan'Qsst!" Wrench calls down. "Ah, Wrench, my friend." Kaan'Qsst looks up, none of the black lines of energy shooting up into the sky towards Blitzkrieg Island, like the strings of a puppeteer, connect to Wrench. "I see you are free of Blitzkrieg's control. Good. Are you ready to join me, as per our previous arrangement?" "Bigger problems than alien invasions due in a few years, right now, Kaan'Qsst. Not sure -where- we are in relation to Earth. That must be somebody else's problem." "Then we must find a way back." "Why do you care? If you're the planet saving type, why didn't you go super-hero, like some of the more traitorous Tyrants?" "I wish to destroy the Kraan. The safety of your planet is only my concern for the potential warriors it bears, for that war." "Still could have teamed with the heroes, for a little while at least." "As could you. But it seems you upgraded your bomb and decided to take control instead. I admire that." "And you've used the nanites and your power and taken control yourself. Admirable, too." "Not of everything. There are too many signals to control directly at once, with Blitzkrieg's own presence within the network. But I am safe, here, yes. None of Blitzkrieg's lackeys will be able to fight me... him, however." The Vor looks at his green hands. "Alas, though I had some of his impressive ability, I had to sacrifice it to control his puppets. But... such a power will undoubtably important for my ultimate goal." "Unfortunately, we're all stuck... somewhere other than Earth." Wrench looks to the sky again. "This is not Blitzkrieg's doing, then. I thought he was forging his own private paradise of automatons." "He was. But he was going for a bigger paradise." "Earth under his nanite control. Not a bad plan. Heh." Kaan'Qsst's elongated mouth grins that sickly grin once again. "It seems, if we find a way to return ourselves to Earth, and you aid me in quelling Blitzkrieg, then I have my means to use your planet to defeat the Kraan, and then, if you help me, you may do with it as you please, when the Great Enemy is dead." "Unfortunately, Blitzkrieg wants me to kill you." "Him or me, then." "Well, you are definitely the honourable warrior, he's definitely a back stabber, and he was already a cold Nazi before he became a machine, but..." Wrench looks up again, this time at Blitzkrieg Island, where the massive plasma generator at the bottom can be seen raging, pointing down towards them. "It looks like, in keeping with his back stabbing nature, he has a big gun pointed at both of us. So if I don't kill you, we probably both die. Sorry." Kaan'Qsst clenches his fists. "At least you maintain honour. Fight well." Kaan'Qsst bows. Wrench nods. And then a singular massive black cannon wraps around his right arm in several panels, as Kaan'Qsst leaps off of the oil tanker, his thralls fleeing, A laser beam fires. The oil tanker explodes as Kaan'Qsst flings himself to the ground, several flaming people running from the fire and flung through the air behind him. Wrench looks down, but cannot see anything through the smoke and fire. "He's not dead. They're never dead." Wrench flies down, as his glasses shade over as he flies through the smoke, and a gas mask forms out his collar. He lands among the smoke and fire, turning his sleeves into fans, as the wings fold away. As he blasts the smoke away, he sees a huge silhouette running at him. Wrench looks to his arms, as the fans fold away. In the next panel, twin guns start to form. Kaan'Qsst green face appears through the smoke, grinning as wide as possible. "Da-" Kaan'Qsst strikes Wrench in the chest with both hands and flings him into the flames. He then squats down, in a ready combat stance. Two massive red laser beams shoot from the fire. Kaan'Qsst, already half-way to the ground, drops and rolls as the beams fly over him. Wrench flies out of the flames, wings back, a laser cannon around each arm. "I knew you would leave the fire" Kaan'Qsst says, and runs to Wrench, and clamps a hand over the end of each barrel. "It seems I must sacrifice my little army for survival." The cannons disintegrate, and then form over Kaan'Qsst's hands instead, as his skin once again turns black. Wrench's eyes widen as the disintegration continues along his sleeves, as his nanite-injected jacket falls to pieces. He has a white shirt and red tie on underneath, and still has his black trousers and hat. Wrench tips his hat. And then throws it, as blades fly out of it, and catches the alien in the right shoulder, drawing thick, yellow, sap-like blood, even through the metal skin. Kaan'Qsst rips the hat out of his skin, as it turns dust in the palm of his hand. Then he turns an arm into a gigantic blade and swings it at Wrench. In several panels, Wrench's shirt turns black, as a blade pops out of each sleeve, and blocks the blade-arm as it reaches his face. Wrench then slashes left and right as Keddek blocks easily enough with one blade-hand, and then Wrench kicks out, knocking Keddek to the floor. Who is still grinning. "What, no imminent victory speech? I am used to more witty patter from Earthlings." Wrench smiles. The blade into cannons again. He fires the two beams, blasting Kaan'Qsst about twenty feet away, leaving a ripped trail through the tarmac behind him. Kaan'Qsst is still alive and conscious. Wrench yells over to him "Thats my witty patter." And then all of his nanite clothing turns to black runny goop, pooling around him onto the floor. The naked Wrench puts his hands over his crotch. He looks to Kaan'Qsst. The alien smiles and shrugs. Then Wrench looks behind him. "And that is you powerless..." says a floating, long haired, robed silhouette, flying above him. Kaan'Qsst rises. "How -are- you immune to Blitzkrieg's control, Wrench?" "My nanites are better." Wrench's skin turns black in blotches, until he is completely armoured in seconds, in a simple black, featureless body armour, covering him from head to toe. "But you know that." "The Overmind's pet" Kaan'Qsst says in realisation. Wrench nods. And then forms mulit-barrelled plasma cannons over his shoulders, and fires rapid fire plasma bursts at Kaan'Qsst and the newcomer, as Kaan'Qsst turns his unmorphed arm into a shield and deflects the plasma blasts. The Dark Magician teleports behind Kaan'Qsst "So much for the Tyrant's reunion, eh?" The two teleport away in a black flash. End of issue.